"Stay back! I don't want to hurt you." Gabrielle said quite convincingly as she aimed her sword at her opponent, trying her best to hold the large weapon steadily. "I have many skills you know." She said in a confident voice. "I've done more damage than you'll ever know! Hiya!" She yelled as she swung the sword forward, only causing it to fall out of her hands and clatter to the ground.

"You should watch the way you handle that thing, you could hurt yourself, or even worse the tree!" Xena said, chuckling at the sight of the small bard.

"Xena." Gabrielle said, turning her chin up slightly in a dignified way. "If you must intrude on my practice time, please be quiet." She said, picking the sword up once again. Closing her eyes she took a deep breath, as if focusing herself.

"Gabrielle, I really don't think that's the right type of weapon for you."

"What do you mean?" Gabrielle said, waving the sword around, then, after almost nicking herself with the blade, she put the end of it in the ground and leaned against it nonchalantly. Shrugging her shoulders she looked up to Xena once again. "Okay, suggestions?"

Xena couldn't help but shake her head.

"You know that I don't like the thought of you wielding a weapon... It's dangerous. But, since you've been so persistent in this, and you could do with some self-defense, I.. I have something that'd be perfect for you."

The small blonde brightened at that.

"You got something, for me?" She asked, grinning to herself.

"It's nothing really." She said putting her pack down on the ground and kneeling next to it. "I just thought you'd do better with something smaller, so I went to look at the weapons. And I came across these." The taller woman said, standing up holding out the pair of new sais to the bard.

"Xena, they're beautiful." Gabrielle said, reaching out to touch them. "What are they?"

"They're sais, from the land of Chin. I received them a long time ago, from someone very important to me. I would like for you to have them." She said, gesturing for Gabrielle to pick them up.

"I could never take something so important to you Xena." Gabrielle said shaking her head. "You keep them, we can find a different weapon for me."

Xena shook her head, smiling encouragingly at the strawberry blonde. "You're not taking them, I'm giving them to you. You-" Xena couldn't help but shake her head. "Gabrielle, you are what is important to me."

A smile spread across the younger woman's face. "You are what is important to me too." Looking back down at the sais she asked, "Can I hold them?"

"Of course." Xena said with a lop-sided grin, once again holding the sais out to her.